Ohayo, minna! Sorry I didn't update yesterday, but school's back in. *gags* That, and I'm trying to keep my web page updated as well, and one of my friends *cough* SSH *cough* is getting on to me because I haven't updated 'The Untold Future' or 'Bloodlines' in forever…I'm gonna keep my little rant short, because I've got a truckload of reviewer feedback to do.
MG: *going through reviews* Man, Ani, your story's getting popular! You're actually making a name for yourself on FF.N!
But with popularity comes responsibility, so I'm trying reeeeeally hard to keep this fic updated! Well, onto the feedback.
Kakkabrat: I think your caps lock was stuck…I agree. School is BEYOND a pain. Well, have fun in Ohio, whenever you're going!
Knight's Shadow: Thankies!
cory: Will do!
Chris-Redfield26: *laughs at Gohan's predicament*
MG: *on the floor under Chris* It's not funny. And I'm still hungry! Look, she's making another chappie, so can you pleeeease GET OFF?! *jumps up, sending Chris tumbling* Gomen…
Contrail: No, I don't want him insane. I'll save that for another story. ^____^
MG: *inches away* Uh…huh…
Android 71: MG: AIEEEE! Huhwha? Piccolo-san? Where?
Hey, get back here! *growls and flies up to retrieve Gohan*
MG: Hey, I can fly! I don't need your help getting down! *flies down and hugs A71* Thanks…
DarkPower: Yeah, it is kind of crap, but it's fun crap!
Sailor Vegeta: Coming up!
Jadesaber: Yeah, I needed a little humor. Be forewarned—there is a LOT of facefaulting in this chappie…^^;;;
sakura117us: NO! You can't have him! *cuddles Gohan possessively*
MG: Uh…*sweatdrop*
Chibi Lauryn: I think that was the chapter everyone was waiting for, which is why I had to hurry up and get it out before everyone came after me…
Silver Warrior: Yeah, a lot of people tend to make Goku too naïve, so I try my hardest to keep him honestly in character.
Crash: Actually, I just really despise Frieza. Bad spelling and grammar bug the crap outta me, so I try to make sure everything's correct. Thanks!
Nisaa_sd: Gomen, but I can't do anything about it! You don't know how much I had to bribe Baba to get him back at all, considering my baka friend used up our three wishes and it was gonna take a while before the dragonballs would regenerate.
MG: Yeah, I want my arm back, too…but I'm alive again, so it's all cool. See, no halo! *flashes Son Grin*
Angel wings: You know Piccolo. Not much fazes him.
notgoingtotellyou: Lessee…that was four smileys in one review? I know, it took me long enough…
SSH: They're coming to take us away, haha, they're coming to take us away!
MG: You just had to give her candy, didn't you?
Well, that's all the feedback, so onto the story!
MG: Aren't you forgetting something?
Nope! I just don't feel like typing a disclaimer.
MG: -_-; You are sooo lazy…
A/N: Chapter six starts yet another three years later…at least, according to the present timeline. Only a couple of months have passed in the Mirai timeline because Gohan decided to wait for the time machine to recharge and only travel back 17 years this time.
Yeah, yeah, I know, he's opening another timeline. But if he waited 3 years, he would be 29, which is too old. So he's still only 26. Does anyone have a problem with that? No? Good. Back to the fic.
*****
"Gohan, you just got back. Are you really going to leave so soon?" Bulma asked, following Gohan down the stairs to the lab. "You do realize how dangerous this is—I mean, two timelines is acceptable, but you're opening another!"
"I know. But I'm afraid that I won't last another three years, and I promised Dad I'd help them fight."
"You WHAT?!" Bulma yelled, stopping in mid-step. "Weren't you the one that said we had to interfere as little as possible? Gohan!" Gohan hit the keypad by the lab door, and the doors glided open. "Gohan—" She ran after him as he disappeared beyond the doorframe.
She entered the lab just as he de-capsulized HOPE. He lifted about two feet in the air before Bulma caught up to him. She reached out in a near-failed attempt to grab him, barely catching him by the sleeve. The jacket slid off his shoulder, and he looked at her.
"Bulma, I'm going. Let go."
"Gohan…it's not that I don't want you to go, but I don't think you realize how hazardous it would be to open another timeline. And anyways, helping them would be interfering in a BIG way." She let go of his sleeve, and he pulled the jacket back up over his shoulder. He opened the cockpit, tossed his bag in, and lowered himself into the pilot's seat.
"I'm sorry. I know what I said, but something about seeing them all there, still alive…I can't just stand by and watch while they all die again when I have the chance to prevent it."
"You gave Goku the vaccine; isn't that enough? You can't even beat them in this timeline, Gohan! What makes you think you can beat them in that one?"
He clenched his fist. "Don't remind me. Take care of yourself—with any luck, I won't be gone long." With that, he closed the top and switched it on. Within minutes, he was gone again.
"Gohan…why save a timeline you know is safe when there's one right here that needs a savior?" Bulma said to no one.
Gohan quickly shook off the now-familiar feeling of dizziness as he leapt to the ground from the cockpit and returned the time machine to its portable state. He looked around, unsure of where he was. Then he smiled.
"Flying Nimbus, come to me!" he called. The little yellow cloud drifted out of the sky and circled Gohan curiously, then stopped just in front of him. He jumped up on the cloud and said, "Hey, thanks, buddy. You know where home is?" His grin broadened as Nimbus jerked forward, then sailed smoothly towards the eastern horizon.
Goku was in the kitchen, helping his wife clean the table from breakfast. He suddenly whirled around and stared out the window, barely regaining his composure in time to catch the plates he had just dropped. He sat the plates on the counter and walked over to the window, looking intently at the sky.
"What is it, Goku?" Chichi asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Someone's coming. The odd thing is, it feels like Gohan, only…not."
There came a knock at the door, and a black, white, and green blur sailed down the stairs and through the kitchen, yelling, "I got it!"
The nine-year-old flung the door open and froze. He didn't know it, but the man in front of him was his future self. Both of them were slightly startled.
"I…uh…hi. Is your dad here?" Gohan asked unsteadily. He had not been expecting this at all, and was unsure of what to say. His younger self merely nodded and quietly said, "Come in."
(A/N: I'm gonna start calling present Gohan 'Chibi', okay?)
Chibi went in the kitchen and tugged on his dad's shirttail. "Hey, Dad, someone's here. I think it's that man you talked to a few years ago, the one you said was from the future?" Goku looked at Chibi, then went in the living room.
"Oh, hey, it is you," he said, causing Gohan to jump slightly. He was a little spaced out, and was beginning to regret coming here.
"Yeah. I promised I'd help."
"Well, you're a little early. It's only April." Goku looked at Gohan sideways. "You haven't aged any."
"Yeah. It's been three years in this timeline, but only four months in mine. I didn't want to risk getting killed before I could help you guys." He let out a long sigh and looked at Chibi, who was staring back up at him questioningly. Goku looked down at Chibi as well.
"Who are you? Dad never told us your name," the boy asked. Gohan and Goku looked at each other, hesitant to explain.
"Let's go up to the lookout, okay?" Goku said, quickly changing the subject.
"Okay. I—" Chibi was cut off by Chichi, who was now standing in the doorway, tapping her foot. All three Sons facefaulted, knowing what was coming next.
"Oh, no you don't. You two can't just fly off to train when there's a guest in the house. And besides, Gohan, you promised you'd study."
In unintended unison, both Gohans replied, "But Mom, I have training to do!"
Everyone froze.
Chichi and Chibi stared at Gohan quizzically. Goku facefaulted again, realizing the perils of the situation they were now in. Gohan clamped his hand over his mouth, mentally kicking himself for not controlling the reaction.
Chibi slowly walked up to Gohan, and their eyes locked. "Now I know why you looked so familiar," he said in a voice barely above a whisper. "You're me."
"Goku, what's going on?" Chichi asked, almost frantically.
Gohan took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. I'm you. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to scare you." He looked at Chichi. "Mom, I know it's hard for you to believe it, but I am Gohan." He braced himself, knowing what his mother was about to do. She stared at him, looking carefully over every inch of his body. Her eyes rested a moment on the shoulder that no longer attached to a limb, then climbed to his scarred face. She choked out a small sob and flew across the room, her arms outstretched.
"Oh my God, Gohan…my baby…" She embraced him, and he ran his hand gently up and down her back.
"It's okay, Mom." He glanced up at Goku, who nodded at him. Then he looked down at his younger self. Chibi's expression was composed of shock, confusion, and a little fear, and Gohan's brow furrowed. "Mom," he said, patting her on the back, "It's alright." She let go and looked up at him. She hesitantly reached up and ran her fingers over his scar, then wiped the tears from her own eyes.
He gave her a soft smile, and met her eyes with his gentle gaze. "Please, Mom? May we go train? It's for his good," he said, nodding at Chibi. "I don't want him ending up like me."
Chichi nodded. "Just be careful."
The three Sons flashed their trademark grin and went out the door. They lifted into the air, waved at her, and took off towards Korin's Tower.
Chibi had been staring at Gohan's unoccupied sleeve as it danced freely in the wind for almost the entire flight, trying to find the words to say something. Finally, he found his voice. "Does it hurt?" he asked quietly.
"Huh? Does what—" Gohan asked, looking at Chibi questioningly. He followed Chibi's gaze and said, "Oh. That. No, actually, I hardly even notice it."
"Isn't it ever frustrating?"
"Yeah. I mean, it's been three years, so I'm pretty much used to it, but there's still stuff that's hard or impossible to do now. It's the worst feeling in the world…look, there's the tower," he said, nodding towards the horizon. A thin vertical line stretched from the ground to above the clouds directly ahead of them. They all increased their speed and shot towards the tower.
The majestic stone structure rushed up to meet them, and they all made a sharp 90-degree turn upward to race parallel to it up to the lookout. The temperature dropped quickly as they rose above the clouds, and the wind stung their faces. Gohan smiled. In his timeline, it had been five years since the tower had fallen prey to the Jinzouningen's reign of destruction.
"Hey," Goku yelled, "You guys head on up. I'm gonna stop by Korin's and grab some more senzus."
Gohan and Chibi nodded, and Goku ducked onto the small platform at the top of the tower.
Gohan suddenly laughed, and Chibi looked at him, confused. "What?" he asked, the contagious smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Gohan shook his head.
"Nothing…I'll tell you later. Hey, d'you sense that?"
"Yeah! It's Piccolo-san!"
They looked at each other, grinned, and pushed their speed to the max all the way to the top of the lookout.
The duo landed lightly, and were immediately greeted by their old sensei.
"That's strange," Piccolo said, "I sense two identical ki signatures from the two of you."
"That's because he's me," Chibi said, pointing at Gohan. Piccolo smiled, nodding.
"I know." He looked at Gohan. "I heard everything you said when you first arrived three years ago."
Gohan semi-facefaulted. "You did?"
"Yeah. My hearing's a lot more sensitive than yours, kid."
Gohan mouthed an 'oh', then looked around. "Hey, where's Kami-sama?"
"Right here," Piccolo said. Gohan stared at him, confused. "We merged. With your warning of the Jinzouningen, I figured would need all the strength we could get."
Before Gohan could say anything, Goku touched down just behind him. Goku glanced over the edge of the lookout, jerked his thumb over his shoulder, and said, "Company." The word was hardly out of his mouth before Yamcha and Krillin landed as well, shortly followed by Tien and Chaozu.
"Hiya, Goku!" said Krillin.
"We sensed the three of you up here and figured we'd better see what the occasion was," Yamcha added. "Er…four of you…who's this?" He smiled at Gohan and was about to introduce himself, but was cut off by a low growl to the group's left.
"Kakarot, why must you always disappear when I need a sparring partner?"
"Sorry, Vegeta. I was coming up here to train with Gohan, but we could spar a little."
Vegeta snorted and looked down his nose at the boy. "If you were hoping for a decent workout training with the half-breed, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I would think you could've done better than that. At least I'm a Super Saiyan."
"You're a Super Saiyan, Vegeta? Since when?" Gohan asked, not really thinking before speaking.
Vegeta glared at him and said, "And just who do you think you are?"
"I…uh…"
Vegeta smirked and looked at Goku. "Do I even want to know what possessed you to bring a crippled human up here? Or were you planning on pushing yourself even further by training with him, too?"
Gohan narrowed his eyes at Vegeta and put his hand over Chibi's mouth before his younger self got him in trouble. Unfortunately, he was too late to stop his father.
"Watch what you say about my son," Goku said. Vegeta raised one eyebrow.
"Your son? Oh, I see. He's the brat from the future. I can see why he needed our help to defeat these Jinzouningen he's got you all so worried about."
"Just shut up, Vegeta. I don't need your help or anyone else's. For your information, I only came here to give you guys another chance…but if you want to die in about a month here, be my guest. I get the feeling you won't be missed."
Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, and Chaozu were now staring at Gohan, caught somewhere between shock and confusion.
"Y-you're…Gohan?" Krillin stuttered, looking back and forth between Chibi and Gohan. Gohan rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably.
"Yeah."
"But…you're…and…ack! Please don't tell me the Jinzouningen did that—I mean, they're not that powerful…are they?"
"Yeah, they're that powerful."
Krillin and Yamcha facefaulted again. Vegeta snorted. "Surely you're a Super Saiyan by now," he said. Gohan nodded.
"But you weren't when they—" Yamcha started, but Gohan cut him off.
"Yes, Yamcha, I was a Super Saiyan, but they were still too powerful. They're beyond anything you could imagine…and because they don't have a life force, you can't sense them and they never run out of energy."
Now it was Goku's turn to facefault. "You didn't tell me that! How are we supposed to beat these guys if they have and infinite energy source?"
"If I knew, I would tell you."
Piccolo cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "If everyone would pick their jaws up off the floor, we should start training again. We only have a month left."
"You go ahead and train all you want. I, however, am powerful enough to take them on myself. In the brat's timeline, I probably wasn't a Super Saiyan. Now that I am…" He smirked. "Well, let's just say you all will be lucky if you even get the chance to fight."
"Vegeta, I don't care how powerful you think you are, it's not enough!" Gohan's patience with the prince was growing thin.
"He's right, you know," Piccolo said, placing a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "Gohan's always had the potential to be more powerful than all of us. If he's managed to tap into his hidden power and he still can't beat these Jinzouningen, we need to keep training or we won't stand a chance." He looked around at the group, then over his shoulder at the large, heavy doors that barricaded the central area of the lookout. "Kami tells me that there's a chamber up here called the Room of Spirit and Time. One day in the outside world is equivalent to one year in there. The only catch is, you can only go in twice or you'll be sealed in that dimension forever."
"So we really shouldn't use it unless it's absolutely necessary," Goku said. "Alright then, we'll just train out here. After all, we've got a month."
Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, and Chaozu hovered a few inches off the floor. "Well, we'll be at Master Roshi's if anyone needs us. What was that date again? May 12th?" Said Yamcha. Goku nodded. "Alright then, we'll see you guys back here then!" They waved good-bye and dove off the lookout towards Kame House.
Chibi tugged on Goku's shirttail. "Hey, Dad? Can we stay up here a while? I want to train with Piccolo-san."
"Sure, if it's alright with him."
Piccolo smiled and ruffled Chibi's hair. "That's fine, kid."
Chibi smiled back, then looked up at Goku. "You too, Dad."
Goku shrugged. "Okay. Hey, Vegeta," he said, looking over at the prince. "Do you want to join us? You said you needed a sparring partner."
"Hn. I've got better things to do with my time than play with a bunch of weaklings like you."
"Suit yourself." Goku, Piccolo, and Chibi started towards the back of the lookout, then paused and looked at Gohan. "You coming?" Goku asked.
"In a minute."
Goku nodded, and the trio disappeared around the corner. Gohan calmly walked over to Vegeta and caught him by the wrist as he lifted into the air. Vegeta glared at him. "What do you want, brat?" he snapped, jerking his hand away and touching back down.
Gohan looked down at him and said, "Have you even been to see your son yet?"
"Why should I? That woman can take care of the brat herself."
"Because he's your son. What more reason do you need? Vegeta, in my timeline, Trunks never knew you. He was constantly asking me and Bulma what you were like. What was I supposed to tell him? That you were an arrogant, self-centered jerk that didn't care about anyone else? Did you ever even have any feelings for Bulma?"
"What does it matter to you?"
"She loves you. It doesn't matter to me what you say to her or what you do about her, but it does matter about Trunks. I don't want him growing up without a father, even if you do survive the Jinzouningen." Gohan narrowed his eyes. "Because that's what's going to happen. Go back to Capsule Corps, hold him for just a minute, treat him like your son."
Vegeta snorted. "Are you done yet? That was quite the speech. Maybe I'll go have a little father-son bonding…" He laughed to himself. "Or maybe I'll just go back to training, and continue not giving a damn about that woman and her brat. Actually, that last plan sounds like a much better idea." He smirked and flew off the lookout, Gohan glaring after him.
"You know," he said to Vegeta, but not so loud that the prince could hear him, "I'm glad Trunks never knew you. It's much better for him that he never found out what a bastard you really are." He contemplated throwing a small blast at Vegeta, but decided against it for the time being. He turned and walked off to find Goku, Chibi, and Piccolo, pacing himself and carefully controlling his temper.
*****
MG: *growls, then stomps off to find Vegeta*
Have fun! Just don't hurt him too bad…
MG: *comes back in* If I can't hurt him, there's really no point in tracking him down. *plops down on the couch*
SSH, I know what Veggie's thinking, so tell him to shut up. Well, considering the way school's compromising my time, I may not get to update again until this weekend. That, and I'm sort of winging it now…I don't have chapter 7 written yet.
MG: Then get writing.
*throws a pencil at him* It's not like you care, anyways…well, ja ne, minna! Mom's gonna beat me with a wet noodle if I don't go to bed. ^^;;;